Michael Short

Countdown (To Eternity?)

Phase 1 (Mystery) - the fascination of nuclear power; the strangeness of its invisible radiation and enormous unleashed energy which may be beneficial to the human race, but which can also cause violence of colossal magnitude. Phase 2 (Imaginations) - Anxiety begins and nervous doubts increase as thoughts intrude of what might happen if things went wrong: warfare, mechanical failure, uncontrolled fission, explosion, melt-down, firestorms, fallout, burns, contamination, disease, mutation, the desolation of a nuclear winter. Phase 3 (Reality) - Time is ticking on. We accept the benefits of nuclear power, tinged with unease and incomprehension. The piece ends with doubt and uncertainty - only time will tell if we are right or wrong. (Recorded on QPRM115D GREAT BRITISH MUSIC FOR WIND BAND, Western Band of the Royal Air Force)